An Irish George III mahogany kneehole secretaire bookcase, circa 1760, the swan neck pediment wit

An Irish George III mahogany kneehole secretaire bookcase, circa 1760, the swan neck pediment with carved flowerhead, above a pair of cupboards opening to shelves, above two short drawers, the base with a secretaire drawer opening to a green leather inset sliding writing surface, above a well and fitted trays and drawers, above an apron drawer and a three short kneehole drawers, flanked on either side by three short drawers on bracket feet, 235cm high, 103cm wide, 58cm deep (formally with an eagle finial, one roundel lacking). Provenance: By descent to the current owner. Previously purchased from Bennett & Stow, Alresford, 9th May 1979 for £5,500 (original receipt available) For a closely related cabinet see Christie’s, King Street, London, 22nd January 2009, Lord St. Helens and Sir William FitzHerbert The Collections of a Diplomat and a Courtier:- ‘This bureau-dressing-table and mirrored cabinet reflects the George II Romano/British fashion promoted by Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Corke (d. 1753), who served as George II’s Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Roman virtue is evoked by a Roman eagle crowning its triumphal-arched and scalloped temple pediment, whose waved volutes bear roses, sacred to Venus as goddess of Love, and these are sculpted in chivalric gothic fashion. Its antique architecture featured in James Gibbs’, Book of Architecture, 1728, and Isaac Ware’s, Designs of Inigo Jones and Others, 1731 (pl. 63).’ See also Irish Furniture, The Knight of Glin and James Peill,Yale University Press, 2007, p. 121, pl.163, for a very similar secretaire cabinet with eagle finial, carved roundels and of identical arrangement (however with mirrored doors), attributed to Christopher Hearn, supplied in 1764 to Lady Cobbe for Newbridge House.

condition report:** Marks, scratches and abrasions consisyent with age and use One flowerhead lacking Formally with an central final or eagle Handles possibly replaced Minor repairs and restorations to veneer